Why Did Oklahoma Ban AP History Classes?
I’m frightened for my country when I find myself agreeing with a Thinkprogress article. But here we are. Something about broken clocks…
Lawmakers in Oklahoma have voted to ban AP History classes (Advanced Placement, where students are prepped to take exams that count for college credit).
Judd Legum writes at Think Progress:
Oklahoma Lawmakers Vote Overwhelmingly To Ban Advanced Placement U.S. History
An Oklahoma legislative committee overwhelmingly voted to ban Advanced Placement U.S. History class, persuaded by the argument that it only teaches students “what is bad about America.” Other lawmakers are seeking a court ruling that would effectively prohibit the teaching of all AP courses in public schools.
Oklahoma Rep. Dan Fisher (R) has introduced “emergency” legislation “prohibiting the expenditure of funds on the Advanced Placement United States History course.” Fisher is part of a group called the “Black Robe Regiment” which argues “the church and God himself has been under assault, marginalized, and diminished by the progressives and secularists.” The group attacks the “false wall of separation of church and state.” The Black Robe Regiment claims that a “growing tide of special interest groups indoctrinating our youth at the exclusion of the Christian perspective.”
Fisher said the Advanced Placement history class fails to teach “American exceptionalism.” The bill passed the Oklahoma House Education committee on Monday on a vote of 11-4. You can read the actual course description for the course here.
For other lawmakers, however, Fisher is thinking too small. Oklahoma Rep. Sally Kern (R) claims that all “AP courses violate the legislation approved last year that repealed Common Core.” She has asked the Oklahoma Attorney General to issue a ruling. Kern argues that “AP courses are similar to Common Core, in that they could be construed as an attempt to impose a national curriculum on American schools.”
Oklahoma Lawmakers Vote Overwhelmingly To Ban Advanced Placement U.S. History (Think Progress)
Comments
Finally, some common sense. Those AP courses and tests are so warped and too many students don’t know any accurate American history. Propaganda is a sorry substitute for actual knowledge.
It would be nice if the crew at Legal Insurrection learned something about the legislative process. Let me explain something…it’s pretty basic, but it seems that you do not know about how something becomes law.
First, a representative proposes a change to a law or a new law. Then, it goes to committee. There can be a up or down vote. In this case, it passed out of committee. Then, it goes to the legislative body, in this case, it is the OK House of Representatives. If it passes the House, then the state Senate gets a committee hearing and then a vote. IF there are differences between the two versions, it goes to reconciliation committee and then more votes. Finally, if passed, the Governor still has to sign the bill into law.
What is so hard about this concept? Did you not take your Civics and American History classes?
Did you read the actual proposed bill (OK House Bill 1380) or just rely on the summary in Think Progress?
Based on my reading of the bill, Advanced Placement History classes are not banned. What they are proposing is a change in what is taught. There is a long list of basic source documents with 4 of 10 pages of the bill identifying the minimum documents to be reviewed. But, teachers are not limited to these documents and can bring in additional documents. The proposed bill states that “the documents should be used for educational purposes only and not to establish or promote any religion.” So, the text of a sermon by Winthrop and Edwards can be used to show what the mood of the nation was at the time.
The State Board is to come up with a test to be taken in lieu of the College Board test. But, they are trying to put pressure on the College Board to revert back to coursework and test that was available prior to the 2014-5 school year. Otherwise, new course material and tests are to be available for the 2015-2016 school year.
I do not see anywhere in the bill a ban on honors or advanced placement classes and it does not ban any student from taking an AP test. What it is trying to do is tell the College Board that the state is not happy with what is being taught and tested. And, until the Board changes, then the state is not going to be spending its money with the private non-profit organization.
If parents can complain about Common Core methods of teaching and testing, why can’t someone in a state legislative body also suggest that what is being taught is not the best for the students in the state. Wouldn’t it be nice to have more than one organization offering testing for AP credit?
The bill has the “emergency” clause. This means that the law is effective as soon as the Governor signs it. Otherwise, a law without an effective date goes into effect 90 days after the session ends.
One more point – this bill just passed the House Committee, so it still has a long way to go before it becomes law. So, your headline is wrong – Oklahoma did not ban AP History classes.
Because the AP History curriculum was drastically altered last year, that’s why.
You ignorant moron.
Rather than teaching actual History, they are now to teach Anti-History – Marxist Propaganda that rewrites historical events to fit the Marxist Narrative. Ignoring, or falsifying, events that don’t fit, while taking trivial events that show America in a bad light and emphasize them to the exclusion of teaching the values that made America great.
Its the Howard Zinn version of un-history. A pack of deliberate lies meant to misinform, with the objective of creating a generation of brainwashed liberals to perpetually vote Democrat.
Thinkprogress, of course, is a Communist propaganda outfit that is funded, primarily, but a NAZI who, by his own admission, survived WWII by rounding up Jews in Hungary to be shipped to Auschwitz for extermination.
Here’s a Pro-Tip: If you ever again find yourself in agreement with anything published by Thinkprogress, pull your head out of your (_!_) and educate yourself on the issue before you embarrass yourself with an idiotic post as you’ve just done.
Now if we could just get them to ban all state funding of all education. Let me know when that happens, then I’ll get excited.